2015 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament


The 2015 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament was played between March and April 2015, with the Final Four played April 5 & 7. The regional locations, after a one-year experiment allowing tournament teams to host, returned to four neutral sites: Oklahoma City, Spokane, Greensboro and Albany. The subregionals were played 20–23 March, while the regionals were played 27–30 March. This represented a change; in the past, the rounds were played starting on a Saturday and ending on a Tuesday. In 2015, the opening rounds and regionals were played starting on a Friday and ending on a Monday. The Final Four was played at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. This was the second time that Tampa had hosted a Women's Final Four Basketball tournament; the prior time was in 2008. For only the third time in history, all four of the number one seeds made it to the Final Four.
Tennessee continued its record streak of making every NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament at 34 consecutive appearances. Connecticut also continued its record streak of eight consecutive Final Four appearances.

2015 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues

The subregionals were played from 20–23 March 2015.
The basis for the subregionals returned to the approach used between 1982 and 2002; the top sixteen teams, as chosen in the bracket selection process, hosted the first two rounds on campus. The following sites were selected to host each round of the 2015 tournament:
First and Second Rounds
Regional Semifinals and Finals
National Semifinals and Championship
The basis for the subregionals returned to the approach used between 1982 and 2002; the top sixteen teams, as chosen in the bracket selection process, hosted the first two rounds on campus.
A total of 64 teams entered the 2015 tournament. 31 of the 32 automatic bids teams were given to programs that won their conference tournament. The remaining automatic bid went to the Ivy League regular season champion as they do not hold a conference tournament. The remaining 32 teams were granted "at-large" bids, which were extended by the NCAA Selection Committee.
The Selection Committee also seeded the entire field from 1 to 64.

Automatic qualifiers

The following teams automatically qualified for the 2015 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament.
ConferenceTeamAppearanceLast bid
ACCNotre Dame22nd2014
America EastAlbany4th2014
AmericanConnecticut27th2014
Atlantic 10George Washington16th2003
Atlantic SunFlorida Gulf Coast3rd2014
Big 12Baylor14th2014
Big EastDePaul20th2014
Big SkyMontana21st2013
Big South16th2013
Big TenMaryland23rd2014
Big West3rd2014
ColonialJames Madison11th2014
C-USAWestern Kentucky18th2014
HorizonGreen Bay15th2013
Ivy LeaguePrinceton5th2013
MAAC2nd2013
MACOhio3rd1995
MEAC1stNever
Missouri ValleyWichita State3rd2014
Mountain WestBoise State3rd2007
NortheastSt. Francis Brooklyn1stNever
Ohio Valley3rd1995
Pac-12Stanford29th2014
PatriotAmerican1stNever
SECSouth Carolina12th2014
Southern13th2014
SouthlandNorthwestern State4th2014
SWAC2nd2003
Summit6th2013
Sun Belt4th2012
West CoastBYU11th2014
WAC3rd1988

Tournament seeds

Tournament records

* – Denotes overtime period
Unless otherwise noted, all times listed are Eastern Daylight Time.

Albany Regional – Albany, New York

First round

Regional Final summary

Albany Regional all-tournament team

Spokane Regional – Spokane, Washington

First round

Regional Final summary

Spokane Regional all-tournament team

First round

Regional Final summary

Oklahoma City Regional all-tournament team

First round

Regional Final summary

Greensboro Regional all-tournament team

During the Final Four round, regardless of the seeds of the participating teams, the champion of the top overall top seed's region plays against the champion of the fourth-ranked top seed's region, and the champion of the second overall top seed's region plays against the champion of the third-ranked top seed's region. The committee placed the four No. 1 seeded teams 1 through 4 in each of the four regions, thus determining the Final Four semifinals pairings.

Amalie Arena — Tampa, Florida

Game Summaries

Final four

National Championship

Final Four all-tournament team

Record by conference

Television

had US television rights to all games during the tournament. For the first and second round, ESPN aired select games nationally on ESPN, ESPNU, or ESPNews. All other games aired regionally on ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPN3 and were streamed online via WatchESPN. Most of the nation got whip-a-round coverage during this time, which allowed ESPN to rotate between the games and focus the nation on the one that had the closest score. The regional semifinals were split between ESPN and ESPN2, and ESPN aired the regional finals, national semifinals, and championship match. Coverage began with the selection show on Monday, March 12, 2015.

Studio host & analysts

First & Second Rounds Friday/Sunday
Sweet Sixteen & Elite Eight Friday/Sunday
Final Four
First & Second Rounds Saturday/Monday
Sweet Sixteen & Elite Eight Saturday/Monday
Championship
had exclusive radio rights to the entire tournament. Teams participating in the Regional Finals, Final Four, and Championship were allowed to have their own local broadcasts, but they were not allowed to stream those broadcasts online.
Regional Finals Sunday
Final Four
Regional Finals Monday
Championship